Most data conferencing systems utilize a central server for their operation. In such systems, the central server receives data from each transmitting endpoint, decodes the received data and, using the decoded received data and the users' selections, mixes, encodes and transmits data to each user according to his selections. Most data conferencing systems therefore require relatively large resources of bandwidth and processing.
There is thus a need in the art for providing a new multi-endpoint (EP) data conferencing system and method.
Prior art references considered to be relevant as a background to the invention are listed below. Acknowledgement of the references herein is not to be inferred as meaning that these are in any way relevant to the patentability of the invention disclosed herein.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,593,032 (Civanlar et al.) issued Sep. 22, 2009, discloses systems and methods for conducting a multi-endpoint video signal conference. Conferencing endpoints are linked by pairs of a reliable and a less reliable communication channel. Conference video signals are scalable coded in base layer and enhancement layers format. Video signal base layers, which correspond to a minimum picture quality, are communicated over reliable channels. The video signal enhancements layers may be communicated over the less reliable channels. A conference server mediates the switching of video layer information from transmitting endpoints to receiving endpoints without any intermediate coding or re-coding operations. The video conference can be integrated with an audio conference using either scalable coded audio signals or non-scalable coded audio signals.
U.S. Patent Application No. 2005/0063463 (Zhang et al.) published on Mar. 24, 2005 discloses a scalable layered video coding scheme that encodes video data frames into multiple layers, including a base layer of comparatively low quality video and multiple enhancement layers of increasingly higher quality video, adds error resilience to the enhancement layer. Unique resynchronization marks are inserted into the enhancement layer bitstream in headers associated with each video packet, headers associated with each bit plane, and headers associated with each video-of-plane (VOP) segment. Following transmission of the enhancement layer bitstream, the decoder tries to detect errors in the packets. Upon detection, the decoder seeks forward in the bitstream for the next known resynchronization mark. Once this mark is found, the decoder is able to begin decoding the next video packet. With the addition of many resynchronization marks within each frame, the decoder can recover very quickly and with minimal data loss in the event of a packet loss or channel error in the received enhancement layer bitstream. The video coding scheme also facilitates redundant encoding of header information from the higher level VOP header down into lower level bit plane headers and video packet headers. Header extension codes are added to the bit plane and video packet headers to identify whether the redundant data is included.
U.S. Patent Application No. 2005/0024487 (Chen et al.) published on Feb. 3, 2005 discloses, in a video conference system in which multiple video codecs are simultaneously operating to transmit video, audio and other data between participants in real-time, sharing the system's available resources. This invention provides a way for each codec to adapt to changing network load conditions caused by, for example, participants (and hence codecs) joining/leaving the conference (system). To support video in this type of dynamic environment, the codec is designed for complexity and distortion control and is able to make intelligent tradeoffs between complexity, rate, and distortion. For complexity control, the codec monitors the available computational resources of the system during run-time and adapts its encoding/decoding algorithms to best match the complexity measurements. For distortion control, the codec overcomes the limitations of poor quality video at low bit-rates and allows the user to improve the quality of the video in select regions-of-interest.
The references cited in the background teach many principles of data conferencing. Therefore the full contents of these publications are incorporated by reference herein for appropriate teachings of additional or alternative details, features and/or technical background.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,456,858 (Schrader et al.), issued Nov. 25, 2008, discloses a method and a device for conferencing network systems providing automatic generation and allocation of an optimized setup of multi endpoints (EPs) to multi-site connection units (MCUs) in a distributed video conference system according to a weighting function. The invention relates to monitoring and administering distributed MCUs connected together and set up in a call in a distributed video conference system. By gathering and merging call information, the method and system is capable of sending a specific command to the MCU capable of executing the command.